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MEMOIRS
OF
HENRY HUNT, ESQ.
AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF,
IN HIS MAJESTY'S JAIL AT ILCHESTER,
IN THE COUNTY OF SOMERSET,
Volume 2
"Whoever thinks a faultless piece to see,
Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er shall be.
In every work regard the Writer's end,
Since none can compass more than they intend;
And if the means be just, the conduct true,
Applause, in spite of trivial faults, is due."
POPE.
MEMOIRS OF HENRY HUNT.
Hunting, shooting, and fishing by day, and mixing in the thoughtless,gay, and giddy throng by night, soon, however, dispelled any unpleasantimpression which this circumstance had made upon my mind. I every daybecame acquainted with new and more fashionable society than I hadbefore associated with, and as my son was about to be christened, wewere determined to give a sumptuous feast and a ball, at which upwardsof forty friends sat down to dinner. When I recal to mind all thoseexpensive and thoughtless proceedings, I can reflect with greatsatisfaction upon one circumstance; which is, that I never forgot thepoor. I always attended to their complaints, and ministered to theirwants, when I could scarcely find time for any thing else. I nevergave a feast that the poor did not partake of. Whether it were thecelebration of a birth-day, or at a christening, they always came in fora share. I forgot to mention, that, when my son was born, I kept up thegood ancient custom, which had been exercised with so much old Englishhospitality at my birth, by my father. Not only were toast and alegiven to all my friends and neighbours, but my servants also had such ajunketing as they will never forget. My birth-day, the 6th of November,I continued to celebrate as my father had done before his death; and Iwill here take leave to relate in what way I celebrated that event.I always had a party of private friends; but, while we were enjoyingourselves with every delicacy which the season afforded, the dinnergenerally consisting of different sorts of game of my own killing,dressed in various shapes—whilst me and my neighbouring friends andvisitors were regaling ourselves, I was never unmindful of my poorerneighbours. Enford was a very extensive parish, containing a populationof nearly seven hundred inhabitants. Amongst them there were aconsiderable number of old persons, for whom, after my father's death,I had successfully exerted myself, to procure them an increase of theirmiserable pittance of parish pay; which pay I had, as the reader willremember, raised from half-a-crown to three shillings and sixpence eachper week. All these old people of the parish, of the age of sixty-threeand upwards, I invited annually, without any distinction, to come andpartake of the feast on the sixth of November. The servants' hall wasappropriated to their use on that day; and as there were seldom lessthan twenty above this age, we always had as large a party as the housewould well contain. There were about equal numbers of men and women, butseveral of the latter were the oldest, some of them being nearly ninetyyears of age, and many of them above eighty. As this parish consisted ofeight hamlets, some parts of it, where the old persons resided, were ata distance of nearly two miles; and as, from their extreme old age,some of the poor creatures were unable to walk so far and back again, Ialways sent a cart and horse round to bring them. They had an excellentdinn